Wine is made in the vineyard – Visit to Mark Egly in Sümeg

“I’ll pour you some yarrow syrup, which is good for the astral body,” says Márk Egly in the morning, after our long journey, smiling at the Palace Cellar at the foot of Sümeg Castle. The owner and winemaker of the vineyard knows all about herbs and biodynamics, making his wines without chemicals, with as little intervention and as little harshness as possible. “What I want to achieve is for the consumer not to realise that they are drinking natural wine without compromise,” he lays this proposition on the table, and the tasting and conversation simply confirm it.

The Egly Vineyard and Winery switched to organic farming in 2018, have been producing biodynamically since 2020, from this year, have been making natural wines, with a firm goal of obtaining Demeter certification. ‘’I look at winemaking from the consumer’s point of view: it’s important that a pét-nat is not difficult to open, that you don’t have to open it with a nail, that you don’t lose half of it: we, for example, disgorge our pét-nats. Anyone who undertakes to make natural wine must approach the grapes and the wine in this spirit, from plant protection to the cellar, as it is a complex process. Wine shouldn’t be made in the winery, it is made in the vineyard, between heaven and earth. It was a long journey for me to get here. It’s true that it’s a much more expensive and risky business than conventional winemaking,” says Mark, who first abandoned chemicals and then increasingly chose the natural way at all levels, greatly inspired by his former teacher, Tibor Gál.

The aim is to strengthen the immune system of the vine with herbs and preparations. Today, they cultivate 3.5 hectares, with the jewel of the estate the 2,100 vines on the side of the castle hill, a 16th century collection of varieties that produce a unique sparkling wine. They include Arany Sárfehér, Lisztes Fehér, Feketeleányka and Csókaszőlő; the base wine is made in amphora.

Sümeg is a true professional workshop, the result of which is the Sümeg PDO, Europe’s second smallest independent appellation (origin protection system), which came into force in May 2021. “The history of the Sümeg winery dates back to the 1300s, and in 1806, the first sparkling wine in the country was produced here. The three components of the regulation we have created are history, man and geology,” says Mark. There are currently four wineries and eleven hectares belonging to the system of protection of origin, which was initiated by Imre Halász, Balázs Capári and Márk Egly.

The Sümeg appellation defines the Sümeg white and Sümeg red categories, as well as the Sümeg Penta white, rosé and red categories. There is a significant restriction on the use of varieties, with Penta specifying only three main varieties at 85% (Furmint, Olaszrizling and Kékfrankos, along with additional varieties). Sümeg Penta wines are made exclusively from organically grown grapes with low sulphur dioxide use. The white and red categories have a mandatory ageing period of 18 months, and the rosé category 6 months. In the case of rosé, both black and white grapes, in this case Furmint, can be processed together when harvested at the same time. The main characteristics of Sümeg wines are minerality and distinctive terroir.

“I learn a lot each year, I discover things, I understand Rudolf Steiner’s (the father of biodynamics) notes by reading them for the third or fourth time. But there’s nothing magic about it, it is all so simple and logical. This ancient knowledge goes back to the primitive peoples, the Celts, and it makes a lot of things plannable, understandable and predictable. Using Maria Thun’s biodynamic calendar, knowing the phases of the moon and the sun, studying the stars and relying on the truth of folk sayings, you can predict what kind of weather is expected and what kind of vineyard or cellar work is needed. A lot of winemakers call me and say, “Mark, when should I bottle?” – he says with a smile.

At the Egly Estate, biodynamics goes hand in hand with technology. “Just because I strive to be natural doesn’t mean it’s not 2022, and we don’t travel by cart,” says Márk. “Wine should be made in the vineyard, and life must be preserved in the cellar. We use concrete eggs, but also stainless-steel tanks. At harvest, we first crush everything gently with our feet, then we press whole clusters, gradually with pneumatic presses and then we ferment all the wines spontaneously.”

“The Palace Cellar was built somewhere around 1498 by Bishop János Vitéz Jr. This is the main branch today. Connected to the main branch is a tunnel system, probably excavated in the 1200s, which according to researcher Kálmán Darnay, was built at the same time as the old castle tower. Later on, a succession of bishops continued to build the cellar as the Palace was gradually developed too. It is therefore quite fragmented, and in many places, the vaults of the cellar show the changes of the centuries. The Palace and the cellar assumed their final form at the time of Bishop Márton Bíró Padányi of Veszprém. Throughout the centuries, the cellar has experienced a succession of good and bad times. I started to build it in today’s form 25 years ago, and today it is home to the Sümeg local history exhibition and a wine shop. It is also a year-round restaurant for lovers of quality gastronomy, with wine dinners, wine tasting programmes and full-day vineyard tours. The cellar is an integral part of the historic vineyard planted on the side of the Sümeg Castle.”